


Fall of a Hero, Rise of a God

by AzTheDragon



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Author playing with ideas and personal headcanons, Author trying to make Infinite appear less of a child throwing a tantrum, Canon Divergence, Developing into full blown AU, Eggman finally doing what he always wanted to do, Gen, Implied/Referenced Torture, Sonic Forces, Sonic in second chapter, but still with real fears to deal with
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-22
Updated: 2018-06-14
Packaged: 2019-05-10 05:40:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14731001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AzTheDragon/pseuds/AzTheDragon
Summary: He was winning, they were losing. Sort of. The core of the resistance still refused to give up, and while Infinite proved to be a powerful weapon against them, he still clung to the belief that some of them could be let go if they ran screaming in fear. It was time to correct that.





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> See end of chapter for ranting Author's Notes.
> 
> I probably botched Infinite up, but I've been thinking a lot about why he would stick around Eggman. Well, sure, it's all about the power and them agreeing onto changing the world, but I like to enjoy the idea that Eggman has conditioned him to near complete obedience. How? Heck if I know. He's the genius, not me (so yeah, it's free for interpretation)

Doctor Eggman stared at the planet as it lazily hung into the vastness of space. It rotated slowly, almost imperceptibly, looking as if there was no war ravaging its surface. Reports were coming in every ten minutes, updating information on the various monitors with predictable cadence and results.

Everything was going according to plan. Everything was within calculated parameters.

Even the wild and desperate attempts of the rebels were vastly predicted by his genius.

A huge grin appeared on his face and he felt better than good. Not even the core group of the resistance, composed by Sonic's closest friends, could throw his mood down for too long. True, at times he still cursed them at their ability to escape his grasp, but their attacks were becoming less debilitating and far in-between.

They would eventually fall, and fall _hard_.

Just like Sonic.

“Master,” the voice belonging to the station's crude AI spoke, its horribly fake female tone cutting through the silence and the man's thoughts. “Infinite has arrived.”

Eggman nodded to himself. “Let him in,” he commanded. He did not turn away from the window when he heard the door swish open. Instead, he chose to fold his hands behind his back and listen to the approaching footsteps. They were steady, but slow. Almost uncertain, or afraid...

When Infinite came to a stop in the middle of his office, the evil Doctor waited. He waited long seconds, perhaps even a minute or two, doing nothing but stare at his weapon's faint reflection on the thick glass separating him from the vacuum of space.

In the end, it was Infinite who caved in first, lowering his head a little and letting his long tail nearly hit the floor. A clear sign of submission that made Eggman's dark heart skip a beat in jubilation.

“Sir,” the jackal spoke softly, not daring to look up from a spot on the ground. “I apologize for my lateness. There were some... things that had to be taken care of. I will file a full report and submit it to you as soon as I am allowed.”

He took a moment to savor his control over the much younger mobian, something that became stronger with each passing day. It wouldn't take much longer before Infinite abandoned his idiotic beliefs and became the true weapon he was aiming for. Then, and only then, he could consider his victory to be truly crushing.

The mere vision of it filled his megalomaniac ego almost as much as seeing Sonic at his feet, bound and helpless. Barely twitching under the potent drugs he had been given.

“I have received a full report on your operation in the eastern continent,” Eggman said once he felt that he had taken enough time to mull over things. His voice was calm, stoic. Far from the inner happiness he was feeling at the moment. “Well done, Infinite! You have crushed them easily, as I had predicted! However..!”

He stopped and turned around with a grace unthinkable of someone of his size, landing his heated glare on the single eye visible through the mobian's mask. It made the jackal freeze where he was, if not in fear, then in apprehension. Eggman wasn't exactly picky on that for the moment being.

“What is it that troubles you, Doctor?” Infinite showed a spark of courage, as if unconsciously wanting to defy the man that had given him a power that was beyond his wildest fantasy. “The mission was a success. The resistance in that zone was crushed and the Phantom Ruby's power has proven to be unstoppable once again.”

The large human hummed, one hand going to stroke his mustache like it often did when he was thinking things through. “Indeed,” he said, voice nothing more than a loud mutter. Behind his round glasses, however, his eyes had narrowed in anger and displeasure at what the jackal _did not_ do.

He sat down at the nearby desk, choosing to ignore the jackal for the moment. He took his time to sift through the documents on the virtual monitors hovering over the metallic surface, subtly signaling that _he_ was in control and _he_ chose when to carry on with the conversation. It was a silent reinforcement of his superiority to the mobian.

“You have left some of the rebels to crawl away,” he continued after what felt like an eternity to Infinite, but in truth was nothing more than a few minutes. He was still browsing his files, dividing his attention between them and the living weapon still standing in the middle of the room.

The jackal gave a small shudder, but recovered quickly and hid his apprehension behind a sturdy wall of indifference. “They were nothing but weaklings who ran away screaming in fear upon seeing the power you have granted me,” he defended himself without trying to insult the Doctor. “Is that not what you wanted? For them to be an example of what becomes of those who cross you?”

Eggman frowned, his hand stilling on a schematic for a new robot scheduled to go into production later that week. “True,” he admitted. “I do want to set an example. But that example should not include them getting away.”

His mind easily recalled each instance he had used the captured rebels as a show of his dominance over their worthless lives. None of them had gotten out without some sort of punishment based on the severity of their crimes. From forced labor in his factories with little regard to their health, to public humiliation and flogging.

He had yet to kill someone, though. Public execution was an honor that he felt belonged to Knuckles and the rest of the core rebels.

“They still hold hope. And hope is a dangerous thing, Infinite. All it takes is a glimmer, a spark, and it will spread like a wildfire until nothing but ashes remains.” Eggman's mind easily recalled the data on how many new members the resistance got each day. The numbers weren't as high as during the beginning of the war, but there were still people fighting back.

Victory was sweet, and the mad Doctor would always stop to savor every small success as much as he allowed himself. There was no denying that. However, true victory would never be achieved until every single rebel had been either bent to his will or destroyed completely.

The jackal hummed, the voice modulator in his mask translating it into a weird growl of sort. “Then I will stifle this spark. I will take this... hope they still arbor and crush it in front of their eyes. You have already started the process by declaring the hedgehog dead, showing his corpse for proof. Destroying his memory will be no harder than defeating him.”

Instead of quelling his anger, that statement made Eggman's rage flare out of control. He slammed his hands onto the desk, creating a loud metallic bang that resonated within the room for several seconds before disappearing into silence. “You _can't_ destroy Sonic, Infinite!” he yelled at the top of his voice, making the jackal flinch back slightly. “You are a powerful weapon that surpass even the Master Emerald, but you cannot ever hope to destroy _him_. It's impossible!”

He took a deep breath and leaned onto the back of the chair, relishing into the softness of the synthetic material. One hand went to the bridge of his nose, pinching the delicate skin in an effort to sedate the pressure behind his eyes. After all, it was useless to get angry with someone that knew nothing, that considered a single instance of power as the epitome of godhood...

“You were able to beat him, Infinite. You could catch him by surprise a few more times if you're good enough,” Eggman said once he recovered enough of his self control. “But destroying him? No... I've seen it with my own eyes what he can do. I have years upon years of evidence of the miracles he can pull off. Every time I think I have finally killed him for good, he comes back. Faster, stronger... for every skill of his I find a countermeasure for, he creates a new one.”

The Doctor knew he was ranting, and perhaps showing an apparent unfounded fear for the blue hedgehog too, but at the moment he didn't care. It was imperative that Infinite understood, that he finally grasped in his little underdeveloped brain why Sonic was so dangerous beyond the mere fact that he was fast and a capable fighter. There was something in that hedgehog that no one else had. Not even Shadow, the supposedly Ultimate Life Form that was able to match the hero in skills.

“You know him as a cocky hedgehog. Carefree and simple minded...” he warned, leaning forward to better observe the jackal. “And that might be true for those that don't know him well. The real truth, however, is far from that. Simple he might be, but he's also adaptable like no one else I've ever seen. Give him time, Infinite, and he'll figure out a way to utterly destroy you, no matter how powerful you are.”

The Doctor proceeded to watch Infinite with keen eyes, observing every small movement in search of the telltale signs that he clearly understood his position. It was in that moment that he caught a glimmer of disbelief in the form of a slightly tilted head to the side. He scoffed at that, but he also couldn't truly blame the mobian for not believing in something he had neither seen nor experienced first hand.

 _That_ , he decided, was something that had to be corrected immediately.

“Do tell me, Infinite,” the man focused his attention solely on the yellow eye. “Now that you have the Phantom Ruby... what do you consider yourself to be? Please, be truthful. I will not hold it against you.”

The cordial tone of voice he had just used had thrown the jackal for a loop, catching him by surprise with the strangeness of the inquiry.

“This power...” the mobian muttered, looking down at his hands in contemplation. “To manipulate reality as I see fit... I feel...”

“Good?” Eggman interjected, hands clasping under his chin as he watched Infinite's inner struggle with morbid fascination. “Better than good? Does this power, perhaps, makes you feel like... a _god_?”

The jackal stilled, hands twitching in barely suppressed surprise at being caught thinking these outlandish thoughts. It made Eggman chuckle darkly under his large mustache, his brow creasing upward in amusement. “Indeed you are!” he exclaimed as a bout of pride pervaded him. He stood up and walked around the office with his arms spread wide open. “A god!”

He came to a stop in front of the mobian and looked down at him like a person would do with a dog. But his mirth soon faded away into a harsh, warning gaze that promised pain and regret if only Infinite dared to disobey him. “A god,” he repeated. “But an artificial one.”

As much as he liked to consider his pet as a godly entity, he was not one. Infinite might be able to use the Phantom Ruby flawlessly and be invincible in a battle, but there were still flaws to the design. Flaws that he could, nor would, iron out.

Too many times he had lost because his best card had gone out of control, and having an exploitable way to cut the power to these aces was a risk he was willing to take.

Besides, it was not like he had broadcasted these flaws to the rebels, so the risk was further reduced.

“Infinite!” he hollered suddenly, his voice deep and powerful. He grinned maniacally when the jackal stood to complete attention. “As your master, I believe it is time for you to learn a valuable lesson.”

 


	2. Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the second and final part of this two shot. It's from Infinite's point of view, mostly, and I have to admit that this went from Canon Divergence to complete AU. Oh well, not that I care. I enjoyed writing this thing.
> 
> Friendly reminder that my works are not betaed. Expect errors, misspelling, and weird phrasing as English is not my native language. I try hard, but at times my brain just does massive farts.

During the long months under Eggman's command, Infinite had learned that the doctor was quite the eccentric character. He was often loud in his boasting, could rage for hours when something did not go according to his plans, and certainly knew how to strike fear in the heart of the helpless citizens. Then there were those moments when he was very quiet and still, with his hidden gaze cast into nothingness as he made that exceptionally high IQ work.

This was one of those rare times when the Doctor switched between the two moods rapidly, throwing Infinite for a confused loop. One moment he was grinning maniacally, the next he looked pensive, with a small frown etched at the corner of his mouth as he tried to burn a hole in the elevator's interior walls with his gaze alone.

“Tell me, Infinite,” the man said after what felt like hours of silence. “What do you think of the Chaos Emeralds?”

It was an odd and confusing question, but Infinite still felt like trying to give an actual answer rather than throwing one just to appease the Doctor. “They...” he paused and looked down at his hand. The same that had been grasping the gem during that mission so many months ago. “I am not entirely sure. It felt... unnerving perhaps?”

Eggman chuckled, his mustache bouncing up and down with the motion. “Ah, I was wondering if you would feel anything at all when the Phantom Ruby and a Chaos Emerald came close to each other. Their energies tend to clash violently if not under control.”

Infinite hummed to himself, clenching his hand and focusing his attention on the powerful gem resting against his chest. It was humming pleasantly to him, letting him know that everything was fine. That he was in control. To think that the ruby could counter a Chaos Emerald made him feel even more powerful. It meant that the mystical gems could not be used against him that effectively.

“But it was only one emerald,” the Doctor warned, looking down at the jackal from the corner of his eye. “And while my simulations have confirmed that the ruby could still disrupt their flow even when all seven are together, you can never be sure of things when the whole set is involved.”

The elevator came to a stop, throwing an end to their conversation by opening the doors with a faint hiss of pressurized air. Eggman spent a few more seconds observing the jackal, wanting to know if his words had sunk into his brain.

Infinite had heard. He had understood. But he was still skeptical.

“Follow me.”

Eggman's command was calm and simple, yet it left no space for disobedience. Infinite shivered as an inexplicable need to obey forced him into motion. His feet produced a soft, rhythmic patter that echoed into the narrow corridor, becoming louder the more they walked further away from the elevator.

“We are currently traversing the core's outer shell.” Eggman's voice came as a blessing to Infinite's quickly fraying nerves. “Two hundred feet of solid titanium and this is the only access to the inner core. It might not seem like it, but it is heavily guarded and you will find no records of all this in the Death Egg's database.”

In other words, the jackal mused, all this did not exist officially. It was a smart decision if you had several people out to destroy everything you owned, and chances were that now he was the only person to know such a place existed beside Eggman himself.

The blast door that they stopped in front of looked heavy. It was so armored that it could probably survive a nuclear explosion point blank with only minor damage. “Originally, this housed a highly technological engine that powered the entire station,” the Doctor explained, that hidden frown returning to his face. “But after a certain... incident... I had to make a hasty remodeling.”

There were no control panels near the door, nor there were any visible sensors that picked up their presence. Yet, only a few seconds after Eggman finished speaking, the door shifted. First towards them, then curving to the side so slowly that it took an entire minute before it stopped against the wall.

The Doctor waited patiently, something that Infinite found himself envying. The narrow corridor had given him a bad feeling, but now that he had seen how massive the door was, he felt the beginning of oppression crawl under his skin.

“I have to admit that this doesn't look very refined,” Eggman said, a hint of resignation in his voice. “But it's effective in... well, it's better if you see it!”

Infinite followed him inside the large circular room, confused and perhaps feeling a bit too small for his own comfort. Whatever it was that Eggman wanted to show him, he wanted it to be a surprise. He looked up at the man, watching him as he pressed several buttons at a small console in front of him. His frown had turned into a grin, deliberately showing how pleased the Doctor was at the moment.

“It must be something important if you did all this to keep it secret.” The jackal turned his attention forward, towards what appeared to be a huge composite block of iron and steel. There were several cables coming out of the top and bottom, creating a strange web of black against the silvery gray coating everything else.

Just like Eggman had declared, it looked rough, unfinished... _rushed_.

Yet there was something to it that made him apprehensive and overly nervous despite his best effort to appear calm and in control of his emotions. Next to him, Eggman either didn't feel the same way or he was ignoring it, masking the feelings with a concentrated frown as he operated the console with mind-boggling speed.

“Computer,” the Doctor said, once he was done hammering away at the keys. He stepped back and folded his arms behind his back, like a professor would do just before a lecture. “Release first series of locks. Withdraw shielding blocks. Set the suppressors to seventy percent. Stand-by for further instructions.”

“Vocal imprint confirmed.” The voice was not the one from the Death Egg's main computer, meaning that this was a separate system that existed only within the room. “Welcome to the inner core, Doctor Eggman. Beginning instructed operations. Please, stand by.”

The clunk that followed was so loud that it nearly shattered Infinite's sensitive eardrums. It reverberated around the room and was quickly joined by more as all the locks disengaged in quick succession. It was painful, but it became pure agony when hidden gears, pistons, and servos added the sharp grating of shifting metal.

Even Eggman, with a far less sensitive ear, cringed and seemed to make a mental note of at least oiling the machine in a near future.

Thankfully the experience didn't last long, and before any of the two could go permanently deaf, the huge blocks were taken apart. With the center now exposed, the room was engulfed by a light so bright that Infinite would have gone blind if it wasn't for the adaptable lenses of his mask.

And then...

...then the tsunami of energy came.

It was an invisible force that smashed against his body like a concrete wall, with hundreds of chaotic currents curling around him in an unrestrained rage, tearing at his soul, screeching without having a voice. Infinite tried to breathe through the onslaught, only to find that his throat had closed the moment his knees had hit the ground. He trembled, hands weakly clawing at the ground, and vaguely felt the Phantom Ruby overwork itself to near shatter point to fend off the delirious amount of aggressive energy.

“Level nine energy emission detected,” the computerized voice was back, but the jackal was too busy trying to survive the assault to his psyche to fully register what it said. “Suggestion to set suppressors to ninety percent. Proceed?”

Infinite's yellow eye shifted towards the Doctor, and through all the confusion and mental pain, he saw that the man was standing strong, as if nothing was happening.

“Set it to ninety-five.”

The invisible assault ceased a moment later, releasing the shaken jackal from a tormenting hold. “What... what was that?” he asked, panting and licking at his dry lips. He hated it. Hated feeling so weakened and confused to the point that his legs refused to work. Hated feeling like there was a predator behind his back, watching, waiting, with claws unsheathed and teeth bared, ready to pounce at any given time.

Ready to tear him to shreds...

Eggman stood in front of him, looking down with an expression that betrayed no emotion. His figure blotted out the light, and a small part of Infinite's mind was grateful for that. No matter if the gesture was intentional or not.

“That, Infinite,” the man started, his silhouette darkened against the glare of the light. “Is what happens when all seven Chaos Emeralds resonate together in perfect harmony.”

The jackal stared at the Doctor in shock, mouth slightly agape behind the safety of his mask. “I... thought that you only had three Chaos Emeralds!” He was so shaken that at the moment he didn't care if he sounded hysterical. “And the other four still lost!”

“Oh yes!” Eggman stood on his toes for a moment, throwing his chest out in pride at having collected three of the emeralds without the resistance being able to do anything about it. “I had them! Powering my largest factories around the globe! I was close to locate another, too!”

He looked up, away from the jackal, and let out a sigh so deep that it felt as he was trying to get rid of all his problems with it.

“Until things did not go according to my plans.”

The man stepped to the side and the light was back, only this time it was less fierce and more like the soft golden glow of a mid-spring day. Infinite's eyes took a moment to adjust, to focus on the stasis tank through the mask's lenses, but when they did, he froze.

He had heard of the stories. Had seen the blurred videos and photos taken from afar, and even had the privilege to see a rare recording made by the Doctor himself, but never... he had never seen _him_ up close.

And suddenly, he realized how little all that information truly revealed about what Sonic was when in possession of all the Chaos Emeralds.

“How... did this happen?” he asked, voice faint and garbled thanks to the voice modulator. “I thought he needed to collect them..?”

In a rare moment of distress, Infinite took off his mask to stare at Sonic directly. He could feel his heart hammering in his chest, pumping blood like mad through his veins to the point his fingertips pulsated with each beat.

It was frightening. It was maddening.

Because if gods had a natural predator, this was it.

“He did not.” Eggman broke through Infinite's spiraling thoughts, the grin gone from his face once again. It looked like the topic of keeping Sonic prisoner was both a worry and an elation for him. “They came to him.”

Infinite took a deep breath and let it out very, very slowly. He tried to control the fear, tried to push it behind his back and forget it ever existed, but was only marginally successful. Mostly thanks to the tiny knowledge that the hedgehog was currently in a deep slumber, ignorant of everything that was happening around him.

“What do you mean..?” The jackal forced his legs into motions, because he refused to appear weak now that the initial shock was fading. He stood up, drawing courage from the Phantom Ruby still humming strongly against his chest, and fully faced the 'beast'.

“It means what it means, Infinite,” Eggman scoffed, impatient and angry at the jackal's sudden inability to grasp the meaning of his words. “The Chaos Emeralds came to him on their own volition. There is no way he could have called them from this far. Not when...”

The man waved a hand in dismissal and resumed paying attention to his complex thoughts. Infinite stared at him for a while, then returned his gaze onto the hedgehog. Because, despite the shock, despite feeling like there was a predator breathing down on his neck, despite his fur still standing on end...

… he was curious.

So he observed with keen eyes, taking in every detail like he had learned to do so long ago as a novice mercenary, hoping to learn anything that could help him fend off the empowered hedgehog if he ever broke free.

Sonic was floating inside a transparent liquid, most probably a special concoction of Eggman's invention, and was half curled on himself with his head tilted slightly forward and to the right. His gloveless hands were hiding part of his face, bound together by shackles of cerulean energy that starkly contrasted with the yellow-gold that _glowed_ from within the hedgehog. The quills, supposedly harder than diamond, looked almost silky as they swayed in the faint currents within the stasis tank.

Infinite moved closer, careful to not step over the myriad of cables running along the floor, and went as close to the otherworldly hedgehog as the machinery let him. There was another pair of energy cuffs around his ankles, bringing his naked feet together so tightly that it looked painful. Together with the large collar of the same fabrication that poked from under the chin, Infinite knew that Eggman had not held back when it came to restraining Sonic.

“How are you keeping him under control?” he asked after realizing there was no apparent weakness. “Is it those shackles?”

Eggman's laugh momentarily distracted Infinite from his visual examination. “I am glad you asked!” he hollered, his voice reverberating against the curved walls of the room. This, it seemed, was the part he loved and was proud of. “There are different systems that keeps the insufferable hedgehog at bay!”

He stood next to the jackal and reached forward with a hand, and since he was both taller and with longer arms, he easily touched the tank's glassy surface. His grin widened and gained a touch of mad pleasure when the hedgehog did not react to the intrusion.

“The shackles you see feeds on Chaos Energy. The more energy they absorb, the stronger they become!” The man stroked lovingly at the glass, enraptured by his own genius and the machinery he had created. “Sonic is certainly invulnerable from the outside, but not so much from the inside. As a living, breathing creature, he is still susceptible to certain things. And while I can't poison him to death like I would love to, I can still sedate him through the mixture of chemicals he is breathing in.”

The jackal blinked, surprised at what he was learning, and glanced at the exhilarated Doctor. “You...” he started, only to fall into silence because there were no words to describe how impressed he was with Eggman's intellect. For millenniums, the Chaos Emeralds had been considered as divine objects, too powerful and mystical to truly understand. Yet here he was, standing next to the man that had understood enough of them to be able to successfully contain their energy and the one that was infused with it.

Eggman casually motioned at the walls of the room with his free hand. “As for the energy the emeralds emits through his body, most of it is absorbed and redirected to the generators, where it is converted to electric power for the the Death Egg,” he explained, his grin widening so much that it could have cracked his face in half. “What cannot be used is suppressed before it leaves the core's outer shell.”

Which meant that nothing escaped the core unless Eggman willed it. It was an ingenious system, and Infinite was glad that this kind of power was under the most sophisticated lock and key in existence. It truly put his mind at ease, and even if he could still feel the chaotic presence around him, his heart calmed considerably.

There was no way the predator would get out of there. He was safe. He was still a god.

“Sonic's conscious will is what keeps the emeralds' true power under control.” The Doctor stepped back, grin fading away into a neutral expression. “Without that, anything could happen. A wormhole, a time displacement, spatial distortions, degradation of time and space... that is why I have not ordered you to disrupt the flow. Too much could go wrong in an instant, and I cannot let it happen when I am so close to achieving true victory.”

So Eggman did the next best thing he could and used that energy for himself.

Infinite clenched his fists, realizing only then how precarious their situation was.

They were winning, they were overpowering the entire world, they had deprived them of a hero, and were close to depriving them of all hope...

...but all it took for everything to crumble through their fingers was for this prison to fail.

“No more games,” the jackal whispered harshly, turning his gaze onto the inert hedgehog. “No more mercy. This... this _thing_ can't be released. I will not allow it.”

From the corner of his vision, he saw Eggman turn his head towards him with an eyebrow raised in faint amusement. He didn't care, though. He was too busy committing all this to memory so that it could serve as a powerful reminder of what could happen if he ever committed a mistake.

“Let them know me as the god of terror and lost hope.”

Eggman's boastful laugh told Infinite that he had made the right decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we are, with an open ending that might or might not be continued in a sequel (probably from the resistance's point of view) depending on my mood and will to write. Not making any promise or concrete plans because I know how I work and if I do, I will surely let everyone down.  
> Also, this mark my return to the Sonic fandom after so very long. I never stopped liking the blue hedgehog, but I haven't written something for it in quite a while.  
> Thank you for reading this, and thank you to whoever spend 5 minutes to leave a review or a favorite.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm a Sonic fan since the very beginning back in 1991 or so, and I still like the blue hedgehog. With the exception of Generations, 06 (yes, it was a terribly executed game with poor story choices, but it still had good points), and Mania, I find recent games to be... not really interesting.
> 
> Like Forces. The core ideas of having an avatar and having Eggman near complete world domination are good, but again, they were badly executed.
> 
> How the heck a normal “insert-whatever-race-your-avatar-is” can keep up with Sonic of all people is beyond me (double boost? Seriously? Sonic should have to drag the avatar along, not gain speed from him/her). Not to mention that a “tortured for six months” Sonic appears as fit and well as any normal day. And Knuckles as commander. And Tails as a whiny, helpless kid.
> 
> Sega, sega, sega. Did you forget Knuckles is simple minded. Too simple minded to be a commander, which is supposed to coordinate way too many people to count? He's a good and capable guy, but that's stretching it beyond the horizon. And did you forget that Tails is this genius kid that went up against things like Chaos 4 and Eggman himself?
> 
> Sega and Sonic Team, I know you tried and I appreciate it, but you can't go for a serious plot and then do a half-assed work like this.
> 
> But let's not go down the ranting path and rather focus on the “what ifs”...
> 
> TL;DR: A different take on the Forces game. Supposed to be a 2-part sort of ficlet that center around how I think things should have been handled, but could not because of obvious rating reasons.


End file.
